


A Thousand Butterflies For You

by FireboltSparks



Series: Baby, Don't Grow Up [2]
Category: The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Adorable Family Dynamics, Alpha Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mated WangXian, Omega Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Protective Parents, Sequel to Baby Don't Grow Up, Timeline What Timeline, back with Mama Wei Ying and Papa Lan Zhan, ft. adorable smol bean A'Yuan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireboltSparks/pseuds/FireboltSparks
Summary: Wei WuXian stands unusually still in the doorway of their Jingshi, looking around with an incredulous face. For one surreal moment, it was almost as if he has stepped into a stranger’s home instead of his own.I was only gone for a day…a single day, he thinks despairingly, this is possibly more chaos that even I could have imagined!ORWei Ying realizes what happens when he leaves their precious toddler with Lan Zhan.
Relationships: Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī & Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Mentions of Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zǐxuān
Series: Baby, Don't Grow Up [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753456
Comments: 17
Kudos: 427





	A Thousand Butterflies For You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm back with another WangXian fic only....7 months later. :D I honestly can't get enough of my favorite WangXian fam so I decided to add another story to the previously written "Baby, Don't Grow Up". You don't need to read it to follow the story here but it might give you a better context of the settings! 
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy reading! <3 (P.S.- no beta so if you find any mistakes, please feel free to let me know!) :)

Wei WuXian stands unusually still in the doorway of their _Jingshi_ , looking around with an incredulous face. For one surreal moment, it was almost as if he has stepped into a stranger’s home instead of his own.

_I was only gone for a day…a single day,_ he thinks despairingly, _this is possibly more chaos that even I could have imagined!_

It was as if someone had collected all the toys in the entirety of Gusu and dumped them into his peaceful abode. The normally spotless room is covered from corner to corner in heaps of wooden figurines, from toy butterflies to fake swords to even tiny musical instruments, all clearly meant for the playful hands of little children..

And indeed, there’s his 4-year-old son, Lan Sizhui, standing in the middle of their bed (Wei Ying notes that he can hardly even see the bedcovers with the number of toys littered from end to end, which is quite the feat considering their bed is _huge_ ), clearly having the time of his life.

He jumps up and down, holding a fistful of colored butterflies in his arms, throwing them up in the air and giggling as they flutter down around him. He doesn’t notice one land in his hair, getting perfectly caught in the small inky black bun twisted somewhat awkwardly on top of his head. As it turns out, styling their little one’s hair is a skill that Wei Ying is infinitely more adept at than his husband, who can’t ever seem to get it perfectly coiffed, unlike his own elegantly flowing locks. 

“Look at all the pretty butt’rflies, Papa!”, A’Yuan squeals. “There’s so many!”

He waits patiently until the last one cascades slowly back into the messy pile before bending down to pick up two swords, clutching one in each hand. He holds out the one in right hand to Lan WangJi, who has been cautiously sitting on the edge of the bed, with his back towards the entrance of the _Jingshi_.

“Will you play with me, Papa? Please?”

A’Yuan turns hopeful silver eyes at his father, waving the sword around as if trying to entice the older Alpha to join in.

Wei Ying smirks. He doesn’t need to see his husband to imagine the enamored look on Hanguang-Jun’s stoic face as he considers his son’s request. As if there was any universe in which Lan Zhan would deny Sizhui!

And just like he thought, Wei Ying hears Lan Zhan make a small noise of assent and briefly nods his head. A’Yuan cheers in victory and rushes closer to where his father is sitting to hand over the sword. Only there’s not much empty space on the bed and his tiny foot slips on a rounded wooden drum, which falls to the ground with an ominous rattle.

Sizhui barely has time to gasp in shock before Lan WangJi appears next to him in a flash, deftly catching A’Yuan before swinging him securely into his arms.

“A’Yuan, careful.”

Though Lan WangJi’s voice is calm as to not further agitate the startled child, Wei WuXian can almost hear his thundering heartbeats across the room. Knowing full well that Lan Zhan would never let A’Yuan get hurt especially when he was around, Wei Ying himself had not tried to intervene (though it went against every parental instinct he possessed) but that certainly didn’t stop him from imagining what might have happened if his young son had hit the unforgiving stone floor.

_We should get some fur rugs around the room_ , Wei Ying notes to himself as he calms his own racing heart. _Anything to provide some cushion for the occasional slips and spills that young children seem to get into. Especially my energetic little boy_ , Wei Ying thinks fondly.

He mentally files that thought for another time and turns to the matter at hand. Silly as it sounds, the absurd number of toys in the room presented a hazard and Wei WuXian is determined to get to the bottom of this madness.

He clears his throat, finally letting his presence be known just as Lan Zhan is meticulously checking A’Yuan from head to toe for any sign of scratches or other injuries.

In a honeyed tone, he asks, “My dear Hanguang-Jun, would you care to explain what this all about?”

Lan WangJi stiffens, not expecting Wei WuXian to be back so soon. He mentally shakes off the first thought that pops in his head when he hears that lilting voice because it’s utter nonsense to feel _panicked_.

No one could possibly be happier than Lan Zhan to see his lovely mate (except his son of course), albeit earlier than expected. Lan WangJi tells himself that he’s simply surprised. A pleasant surprise, he further reassures himself. Nonetheless, he finds his body turning slowly, almost mechanically, to face Wei Ying with the guilty air of a man who is clearly unused to feeling like he’s done something wrong.

Wei Ying somehow smothers a bubble of laughter (inappropriate because this is a serious matter, really!) that threatens to burst out, not wanting to ruin another chance to tease his stern Lan Zhan. Mostly one would expect this sort of behavior from Wei WuXian, the mischievous Yiling Patriarch who lived to break the rules. _Not_ the perfect Second Jade of Lan, quite literally the opposite of his mate as the paragon of virtue whom disciples across the cultivation world worshiped.

_Oh, if only they could see their beloved Hanguang-Jun now_ , Wei Ying snickers internally.

Still, he keeps up his pointed look, narrowing his eyes at Lan Zhan, who refuses to look at him directly and instead stares coolly at a spot right above Wei Ying’s head. Before he can open his mouth to say another word, Lan Zhan’s savior in the form of Lan Sizhui calls out instead, excited to see Wei Ying after a long day of separation.

“Mama!” he exclaims, wriggling down out of Lan WangJi’s arms. Already having learned his lesson just a few moments earlier, the smart boy is much more careful not to step on anything this time around as he zig-zags his way to Wei Ying. 

“A’Yuan, be careful”, Wei WuXian warns, repeating Lan WangJi’s words from earlier but enthusiastically gets down on one knee to greet his child, just in time for tiny arms to wind their way tightly around his neck. He chuckles as he stands back up, temporarily ignoring the lack of response from his husband in favor of the animated bundle in his embrace.

“Did you miss me, little kitten?” Wei Ying leans his head down to rub his nose playfully against Lan Sizhui’s, who grins toothily and scrunches his own button nose cutely in response.

“I missed you, Mama! Did Mama miss A’Yuan too?”

Wei Ying squeezes A’Yuan tighter, heart overflowing with love for his baby boy. He peppers A’Yuan’s upturned face with all the overdue kisses he missed out on while he was gone, making the young one giggle and finally un-masks his scent, releasing the sweet smell of fresh lotus blossoms to wash over his family, who had indeed missed his vivacious presence.

“Of course, I missed you, baby. So much.”

He drops another quick kiss on the top of Sizhui’s head and notices a brightly painted blue butterfly with pretty streaks of golden glitter on each wing, partly stuck in A’Yuan’s hair. Gently, he untangles it and holds it above A’Yuan’s head, turning it this way and that. The glittery butterfly sparkles as it bathes in the last few rays of the setting sun, catching A’Yuan’s attention who reaches towards it with both of his hands, his giggles filling the _Jingshi._

Wei WuXian sighs with happiness, an unconscious burden lifting off his chest as he holds his son in his arms. A’Yuan had spent the day with his father, who made sure to thoroughly scent A’Yuan twice as much to make up for Wei Ying’s absence.

Although the scenting sessions served their purpose of stabilizing his growing core and soothing his aching body, nothing could make up for having both of his parents’ scents intermingled, potent enough together to make A’Yuan feel as if he was floating on fluffy white clouds like the ones that were so commonly seen in the Gusu sky.

And in this moment, Wei Ying can’t help but sense how happy his son is. He knows how the loss of a parent’s scent can affect a child, sometimes even long into adulthood. He’s seen with his own eyes cultivators who grew up without steady scenting sessions; their statures stunted, and their cultivation power weakened. In some unfortunate extreme cases, some even had distorted cores. 

Wei WuXian also knows he’s being a tad bit dramatic because it was only one session that he missed, coupled with the fact that his mate was certainly powerful enough in his own right to relieve their little one’s pain. There was no real tangible effect of his brief absence. In fact, because of this very reason, he had agreed (if somewhat reluctantly) to accompany a group of Lan disciples for some “on-the-job” training for an all-day Hunt at Dafan Mountain.

Though Wei WuXian doesn’t actively hunt as often as he used to after Sizhui’s birth, preferring to spend his time raising his child than vanquishing monsters, every once in a while, Wei WuXian will step in on behalf of Lan WangJi and cover his lectures on a variety of topics (much to Lan Qiren’s consternation as Wei Ying was bit of a fan favorite for the disciples and more often than not, encouraged them to “live a little” and break at least one rule or another).

This time, Lan XiChen had kindly requested Wei WuXian to escort the newly indoctrinated disciples and teach them the tips and tricks of cultivation. As the Sect Leader (and more importantly, his brother-in-law), Wei WuXian could hardly refuse him and to be honest, he wouldn’t deny the chance at some excitement especially as things had been relatively dull recently, with a random fierce corpse here and there. Which, if Wei WuXian was being honest, was hardly a challenge at all. But going out to Dafan Mountain, where there were rumors of a demonic goddess that was somehow stealing people’s souls, sounded like an adventure that was right up Wei Ying’s alley! 

Later when he spoke to Lan Zhan about it, his husband had been more than supportive, sending Wei Ying off with a sweet goodbye kiss and a “be safe”. This obviously meant that A’Yuan had to spend the whole day with his father, as he was too young to attend classes nor were they particularly willing to leave him with unknown cultivators. It’s wasn’t so much a matter of trust but rather Lan WangJi’s overprotective Alpha instincts that refused to let someone else take care of his son. Besides that, there was the monthly Sect Conference taking place at Lanling Jin’s Koi Tower that day where all the major sect leaders were to gather and discuss the latest events occurring throughout the area.

“I will take A’Yuan with me.”, Lan Zhan had assured Wei Ying. “He can play with JinLing for the remainder of the conference. It should not be a problem.”

With the comforting thought that A’Yuan would in good hands and loaded with more kisses from his husband and child, Wei Ying had left for his hunting trip.

Who knew disaster would strike in his absence?

Speaking of which, he’s still waiting on a response from his silent mate, who is staring at the two of them with the tips of lips turned slightly up, as if repressing a smile.

_Your handsome looks won’t distract me this time, Lan Zhan! Well, actually they will,_ Wei Ying thinks ruefully, _but I will do my best to overcome your sneaky attack!_

Wei WuXian finally stops teasing Sizhui and hands over the butterfly, much to the child’s delight. Butterflies were always his favorite, after all. A’Yuan’s soft laughter trails off as he becomes intensely preoccupied by the shiny object in his hands, making soft sounds of wonderment every now and then when the sunlight makes it sparkle. He adjusts A’Yuan with one arm so he’s sitting firmly on his hip and turns his attention back to Lan WangJi just as his husbands finally speaks up.

“Wei Ying, your scent- “

Wei WuXian cuts him off, already knowing what Lan Zhan is asking. “As it turns out, that crazy goddess we were hunting had a particular hatred for Omegas. Figured it would be best not to paint a target on myself, so I masked my scent to prevent any…accidents.”

He pauses, immediately seeing the frown lines darken Lan Zhan’s flawless face.

“You don’t have to worry, husband,” he says, waving his free hand around to dismiss Lan WangJi’s obvious concern. “I don’t have as much as a tiny scratch! You really should proud of your disciples. You’ve trained them quite well, you know. I barely had to get involved at all. They were able to take her down before the sun had even set. And since we finished up taking care of that slight issue early, I thought it might be nice to come home and surprise my lovely family!”

“And good thing too,” Wei Ying continues, smirking, “Otherwise, I would have certainly missed _whatever_ this is. Surely, the great Hanguang-Jun must have a reasonable explanation.” He waves his hand around at the current chaotic situation.

Lan Zhan smooths down the front of his robes, as if getting rid of any invisible wrinkles. He delicately clears his throat and takes a few tentative steps forward, reaching out with one hand. If Wei Ying didn’t know any better, he would have thought his Alpha was actually _nervous_ , trying to stall for time. But surely, whatever it was, couldn’t be that bad, right? 

“Wei Ying. Come sit.”

Wei WuXian stares at him, head slightly cocked but Lan WangJi just patiently waits until Wei WuXian grabs a hold of the offered hand. Together with A’Yuan who’s still clutching the blue butterfly, Lan WangJi carefully navigates the pair across the room to sit on the bed, making some space on the bed by sweeping a handful of toys from the bed onto the ground.

“There is perfectly reasonable explanation”, Lan WangJi bluntly states once he too is settled by his family’s side. His overly casual words immediately set off Wei Ying’s radar because despite how intelligent and well-renewed his Alpha is known to be, his logic and reasoning tend to go a bit askew whenever his family is involved, especially A’Yuan. Lan WangJi was overprotective by nature but after becoming a father, his Alpha instincts had gone into overdrive, unabating even after all these years. Clearly something had happened involving A’Yuan’s well-being.

Despite being doted on by his parents and the rest of the Lan clan members, A’Yuan retained a rather sweet and quiet disposition, usually not one to throw tantrums like a spoiled young master (Wei Ying truly loved his nephew with all this heart and no issues placing all the blame on his Shijie’s annoying peacock of a mate). With his curiosity further piqued, Wei Ying waves his hand again to urge Lan Zhan to continue.

“Yes yes, of course. Go on. I would love to hear how a trip to the Sect Conference turned into a shopping spree,” Wei WuXian replies.

“A’Yuan and I arrived at the Conference,” Lan WangJi begins…

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my, wonder what trouble the Lan boys got up to... 
> 
> Comments, kudos most welcome! 
> 
> Here's my [twitter](https://twitter.com/softxianxian) if you want to sob over WangXian with me! Or if you want to be friends, that's cool too. :D


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